Maybe, Alone, Mercy, Home
by Hawk and Handsaw
Summary: Four marauders. Four deaths. Four reactions to the place we all must go. James Potter. Sirius Black. Peter Pettigrew. Remus Lupin. It's time to go home.


_Maybe, Alone, Mercy, Home_

by Azalia Fallen

_the Stag_

Those cold eyes... so emotionless, he had to fight. Every fiber of his being was trying to fight. His wand rose as he threw as many curses as he could at the tall figure. Not all of them were forgivable. The thin white hand moved his wand ever so slightly to block them all. His opponent was unstoppable. That was okay. He didn't really expect to live. But hey, soon people would be toasting to his name. Didn't he always want fame? He just hoped the fame wasn't directed at his entire family... slaughtered. No. That couldn't happen. Let it just be him... please. God.

Sweat was beading on his brow. Block, block, attack, block. He had to fight... had to save Lily, Harry. Maybe his useless attempt at attacking this monster would give his wife and child a fighting chance. Maybe...

The green light flashed before him. Green like Lily's eyes. Green like his son's. James' last breath came out as a sigh as he was suddenly lost in the depth of the peaceful unknown.

Maybe they would live. Maybe...

---

_the Dog_

That laugh, so indifferent... so familiar. He had to fight. Every fiber of his being was trying to fight. He flung everything he knew at her and laughed right back. She wasn't going to get away. He was almost enjoying himself, really. There was something oddly satisfying about dueling to the death with your family members. It was a great form of anger management. The best thing about this was that he knew it would all be all right in the end. No matter what happened. Harry wouldn't... couldn't die, and he was fighting beside his last living friend. Life was great. Sure his cousin was insane and his other friends were all dead or traitors, but he had a godson and a werewolf who cared. Not only that, but he was fighting! As in, out of the house! As in, Free! Yay!

A green light flashed before him. Wait... what? This wasn't supposed to happen! Ack! He felt himself falling backwards, slowly. Why wasn't anyone helping him? Com'n. If he was falling this slowly someone was sure to catch him, right? All Bellatrix had done was hit him with a slow motion jinx. Right? Why wasn't anyone catching him? Why couldn't he see anymore? Suddenly things weren't so funny.

That was when he realized that he was leaving Harry alone. Alone...

---

_the Rat_

That glowing hand... he was so helpless. He had to fight. Every fiber of his being was trying to fight. It was useless. He thought it would truly help him. Why was life so difficult? All he wanted when he was younger was to live a long life with good friends. He didn't know that he'd have to choose between the two. Looking back, he kind of hated his life. It wasn't just that he was about to die by his own hand... literally... so much as the fact that it had all gone so seriously _wrong. _He had thought that living longer would make his life better; any was better than none, right? But all it had done was expand the degradation, the submission, the horrors, the guilt, and the misery over a longer period of time.

If he could do it all over again, he would have died sooner. He would have been the faithful dope. "Remember old Pettigrew? Gave his life to save us all, the dolt. Let's have a drink to old Wormtail!" His breath was almost gone. He hoped that wherever he was going James would forgive him.

One act of mercy and he was dead. Mercy...

---

_the Wolf_

Those constant explosions... so distracting. He had to fight. Every fiber of his being was trying to fight. Dolohav was coming after him with more stamina than the old man should have. Remus had to concentrate if he wanted to win, and oh, he wanted to win. He had to.... for Harry, for Tonks, for Teddy. Yes, always for Teddy. His tired arms were filled with a newfound strength. He would win... he _would win! _A feral scream fell out of his mouth. He could do this! Dolohov was faltering; he had stopped attacking, and was merely defending. A large shield appeared between them and Remus growled when he couldn't penetrate it.

Suddenly Tonks bounding into the room distracted both him and Dolohov. Dolohov didn't waste a moment before firing something purple at her from his wand.

"No!" Remus turned his back on the death eater to cast a protection spell around her. The hex fizzled out in the air. Remus felt one brief, shining moment of victory before something hit him in the back. His wife's screams filled the air as he fell to the ground with a thud. He panted while writhing on the ground. Whatever Dolohov had hit him with wasn't a killing curse. He felt like some creature was within him, clawing his insides, trying to get out. He felt his organs being slowly ripped apart. It was all he could do not to scream. What could deliver him from this hell? It was too late for him now. He would soon be gone. Dolohov's body hitting the ground next to him with a _thump _brought Remus back to reality.

As his life's blood ran cold, Remus Lupin smiled._ "That's what you get for making my wife mad, you old codger,"_ he thought with pride. It was a shame he was leaving her alone. She was amazing. Remus didn't know what was going to happen next. What would follow... it was a strange thing. He felt like he should be trying to do something... live? Survive? Was there something he was supposed to live for? Yes... so much. But this? This was long overdue. Lupin coughed up some blood, and felt a gentle hand caressing is face. And then he didn't feel anything.

He was going home. Home…

_fin._

**A/N **Okay, I jsut realized that James didn't have his wand, (thank you Xiahou Ayumi!)but whatever. This way is cooler. Besides, it's fanfiction. Screw Canon! *sticks out tongue*


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